Tag Archives: boone

“We don’t know who we are until we see what we can do.”
-Martha Grimes

There have been countless climbing challenge ideas thrown around amongst Boone climbers, ranging from the stupid (e.g. “the 24 challenge”) to the silly (e.g. naked climbing), but last weekend Carson decided to celebrate his 21st birthday by laying down the hammer on 21 of his favorite v5 boulder problems around Boone.

Test yourself: Can you name all 21 of these climbs? Click the image and zoom to make it reeeeaalll big so you don’t have to be all squinty-faced while you play the guessing game..

The Bakker boys, two Zachs, and myself set out on this grand undertaking. It was a big dream and we knew it would take the whole day. With a puppy in tow, we set off, unsure of our chances of success, but determined to spend a beautiful day among trees, rocks, and friends.

The final numbers at the end of the day were 21 climbs completed in 11 hours, with ~10 miles total hiked up and down and around virtually every single area of Blowing Rock, 221, and Grandmother. We left around 8am and made it back to Boone a little after 7pm. Carson and Drexel day flashed every single boulder except for two, and each one of them blames the other for bad beta.

I was impressed by Carson’s commitment to staying true to the goal of exactly twenty-one v5s. Besides our initial warm-up, he did not lay a finger on a single other grade. I don’t know how doable this venture would have been if we had picked a higher grade or if Carson had just turned 50 years old instead of 21, but it surprised all of us how easy this was. Okay, maybe not “easy” but it certainly wasn’t as brutal as we had imagined. I only spotted a couple chicken wings and the guys actually cruised through the last few boulders of the day pretty smoothly, versus the dramatic pumping out and screaming and grunting one might expect after a long circuit day.

Highlights of the day, according to Drexel, were Cocaine Highway (a tall, scary rock face that is so unnerving Carson giggled like a little schoolgirl at the top) and finishing the day on the Long Wall classics.

The weather was perfect all day. Fall called and said she had a good time visiting and will be back in a couple weeks for a longer stay. I can’t wait to spend many more weekends in Boone getting my skin and psyche ready for prime climbing season! Don’t forget to register for Hound Ears!

Check out the photos of our day and see if you can name every single one of the climbs. Is there a v5 you think we missed? Let us know in the comments below.

Drexel here, I just finished up this video of my good friend and fellow crusher Melise, climbing in Boone and Tennessee. Enjoy!

After finishing school, Evolv athlete Melise Edwards hit the road with the intention of climbing in all the best areas the South East has to offer. After a very successful stint in Boone, NC, Melise visited some Tennessee sandstone at LRC, Dayton Pocket, and Rocktown. She had a blast and looks forward to the next opportunity to explore more fantastic bouldering spots. In this video she climbs Klamper V8, Changing Lanes V9, and Portobello V9, in Boone, NC. She also quickly puts together River Dance V9, one of the most beautiful and classic boulder problems the South has to offer.

New video out. Thanks to Organic for the support, and all the wonderful Booners. http://vimeo.com/113348945 Drexel is having a blast climbing in Chattanooga on the daily, kicking it with Mike and a chiweenie. I’m jealous (about both those things), but too busy coloring feelings with adorable little demon children and their families (yay “real” jobs). This upcoming winter break should see an increase in climbing, psyche, and trips with all our friends to Rocktown, LRC and maybe even Rumbling Bald (Dec. 13th Triple Crown!).

Chihuahua + weiner dog = chiweenie!?

p.s. Good news for all you Asheville climbers: The new Chocolate Lounge just opened, and it’s easy jogging distance from Climbmax downtown. So set yourself a goal of climbing all the v3s — I mean 3 stars — er, I mean dots? Yes. Dots. Climb all the dots, and then get yourself a hot cup of salted caramel liquid truffle. (Or just skip the climbing and go straight to the chocolate – teehee!) … (You know who you are.)

Mmm, every little spoonful from that little baby spoon was like a majestic swirling field of flowers and unicorns dancing and hugging my mouth.

This weekend marked the beginning of the 2014 Triple Crown Bouldering competition series, and also the first weekend that was super friggin’ cold! It felt like one of those middle school nights where first you soak in a hot tub, then plunge into a frigid cold swimming pool while shrieking with delight, and then pop back in the hot tub and do this over and over again. Except that the hot tub just closed for six months and you have to stay in the pool until then. Yes, winter has arrived this weekend and it’s here to stay, so you better learn to enjoy it.

(If you didn’t do that hottub/pool thing in middle school, sorry, but you missed out big time.)

We were both psyched to help out during Hound Ears as judges, arriving at the campground at 6:45am on the day of the comp. While waiting around a couple hours for the morning drizzle to dry off the rocks, we took advantage of the free coffee provided by Thea from Footsloggers (thanks!). After five cups it was time for me to do… something! Anything! SO MUCH ENERGY. Soon the rocks were dry enough and I (very excitedly) helped herd people onto shuttle busses and made awkward caffeine-fueled conversation with folks as I collected their waivers. Despite one bus breaking down, all 400+ people finally made it up to the boulder field and things could start.

I was initially looking forward to running around Hound Ears climbing with all my friends. Then last weekend, my ankle was kicked out during a soccer game and plans changed. My new goal became hobbling around slowly without hurting my ankle worse, cheering on friends and strangers, and signing scorecards as an official judge.

Olivia’s recent blogposts have been super inspirational about having a positive attitude while injured. It also helps that the world is a beautiful place (especially in the fall) so my view of people climbing looked like this:

Not a bad view of fall foliage… and Julie really got to get up close and personal with nature as she ascended this sketchy v3 into lichen, moss, trees and leaves.

When I wasn’t busy signing scorecards or hiding my frigid fingers deep into pockets, I managed to snap off a few photos:

With Brennen Bull star-chasing all over the place, we saw a lot of this view. It all paid off, because Brennen and his bright blue pants went home as winners!Julie Hwang and her crazy strong fingers on the classic Blade V6.Lisa Hummel slicing her way through the Blade V6. (Like buttuh.)Hailey racking up some points with Woody’s v3 (a V5 with a misleading name).Dan Horne wanted to be cool like Hailey, so he hopped on Woody’s v3 and crushed the pants off of it.The Clawwwwwww V4. (It’s hard to say the name of this problem without thinking of Toy Story.)Julie was chosen to ascend The Claw V4. (Oooooooohhh.)Ian Rogers having a power struggle with The Controller V6.Cold widdle Rumi made a new friend and crawled inside Al’s puffy jacket. So crazy to bump into a dude we met in Arkansas back on our road trip!

People turned in their scorecards and meandered back to the campground to eat chili. Slowly but surely, the sky darkened and things got more interesting. There was a pad-stacking contest (who can balance atop the highest # of crashpads), winners were announces, and some numbered balls were thrown into the audience. I was busy cuddling with a shivering puppy in the minivan, but Drexel and his brother Carson caught ALL THE BALLS and won some legit stuff, like a new chalk pot, down jacket, and framepack. These are not your average door prizes ladies and gentlemen.

Back home again, but we’re looking forward to Stone Fort at the end of this month. I’m crossing my fingers that my sprained ankle will be healed up by then, but if not, I look forward to signing everyone’s scorecards again with a big red “J.”